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Henry Hudson Trail and Natco Lake

Now, here’s the last batch. I’ve got some serious nostalgia jones on for the Henry Hudson trail. Since the early 90s it’s been a paved multi-use trail that’s predominantly used as a bike path, but I’m a child of the 80s, and before they converted this rail trail, I remember my parents bringing me up the unpaved trail to go crabbing at the lake. I remember mini-me and my tiny feet fearfully walking along iron rails – the skeleton of a bridge that wouldn’t be built until I was almost a teenager.

And, while I’m not one particularly prone toward strolls down memory lane, this is the area that led me to start going by the name ‘Marsh’, so I think it’s important for sake of perspective. I used to walk down to the pier and feed the ducks. The marsh in these photos is a mere two blocks behind the house I grew up in, and I would sit there and watch the egrets. I liked the quiet of it, even as a kid, and I grew up in an age when parents still sent their kids outside to play without adult supervision or cell phones. (To be fair, I was a little nerd. My parents didn’t really have anything to worry about.).

In the early 90s, they paved it all and turned it into a multi-use trail that crosses a few main roads and runs behind and through neighborhoods, but goes on for miles upon miles. You can wander off course to Natco Lake, also less than a mile from my childhood home. Further up, you can wander off course in another direction and find yourself on the beach.

So, while this isn’t my favorite hiking trail since it caters mostly to bike traffic, it’s still got a special spot for me.

Also seen in the photos, just off the trail, someone built a few kitty villages, so if you’re a cat lover, you’ll end up seeing a fair few felines hanging out around the little kitty apartment complex someone was nice enough to make for them.